Poverty in the favelas of the northern Brazilian city of Recife is the main driver for a life in prostitution. Brazil plays host to the World Cup soccer tournament in June 2014, which will likely lead to an increase in demand for sex workers.

Amanda sits curled up on the sofa watching cartoons on television. She will soon turn 14, but her youth belies her past. The young girl has suffered two abortions already, the result of exchanging unprotected, adolescent sex for a pack of cigarettes or a couple of dollars. “My life was complicated. I was on the streets and taking drugs,” she says.